Content rightsholders in the film and music industries previously spearheaded a legal campaign that, though highly successful in the courts, has resulted in significant normative backlash and overall has been counterproductive to their intended goal of increased copyright enforcement. In July 2011, when these rightsholders signed an agreement with five major national internet service providers to create the Copyright Alert System (“CAS”), a new and entirely private mechanism for copyright enforcement, they seemed poised to make that same mistake again. However, in a prime example of “normative avoision,” content rightsholders have finally taken note of the normative consequences of their enforcement methods and, through subsequent changes to CAS, have deftly sidestepped the normative backlash dilemma.

Archived Articles

About Us

The Hastings Science & Technology Law Journal (STLJ) is a multidisciplinary journal created to enrich the discourse at the nexus of science, scientific methodology, technology, biotechnology, bioethics, health, public policy, and the law. STLJ is designed to serve both the legal and scientific communities through prompt publication of scholarly works on the basis of originality, insight, timeliness, and elegance, and by providing an open forum for the discussion and interpretation of significant developments in science and law.